The Supreme Court has granted a stay in the case of Trump v. Boyle, allowing President Donald J. Trump to remove members of the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) without cause while litigation continues. The Court’s order, referencing its ruling just two months ago in Trump v. Wilcox, shifts the balance of power between the executive branch and independent agencies established by Congress.
The majority’s unsigned order stayed a lower court’s prohibition against removing CPSC commissioners, pending further appeals. The justices cited their reasoning in Wilcox, in which the Court found that the government faces a greater risk from allowing an ousted official to continue exercising executive authority than from delaying a potentially wrongful removal. The ruling effectively allows the President broad power over what have traditionally been independent, bipartisan commissions unless and until the Supreme Court resolves the underlying constitutional issues.
Justice Brett Kavanaugh, concurring with the majority, argued for a more expedited resolution. He suggested the Court should have also granted “certiorari before judgment,” allowing immediate Supreme Court review without waiting for appellate courts. Kavanaugh reasoned that when core precedents are under scrutiny, delay causes unnecessary “uncertainty and confusion” and leaves lower courts powerless to clarify the governing law.
Justice Elena Kagan, joined by Justices Sonia Sotomayor and Ketanji Brown Jackson, dissented in strong terms. Kagan charged that the majority was destroying the independence of an independent agency, as established by Congress. She highlighted the Consumer Product Safety Commission’s statutory guarantee of bipartisan, staggered-term commissioners protected from removal except for cause, drawing connections to the New Deal–era precedent Humphrey’s Executor v. United States (1935), which has long upheld such protections.
The decision is part of a recent series of emergency Supreme Court orders allowing the President to remove executive officials or disregard statutory constraints on agency leadership, including actions affecting the National Labor Relations Board, the Merit Systems Protection Board, and the Department of Education. Critics argue these moves dismantle longstanding checks on presidential power, while supporters contend they restore constitutional accountability to the executive branch.
The stay will remain in effect while the appeals process continues. If the Supreme Court grants full review, the stay could remain until the Court issues a final judgment. If review is denied, the stay will dissolve automatically. Meanwhile, the President retains the authority to remove CPSC commissioners at will.
